


Don't Stop To Think This Through

by theatergay



Category: Bandstand - Oberacker/Oberacker & Taylor
Genre: First Kiss, Kinda Fluffy, M/M, coming out (albeit very vaguely done), pining (but also vaguely done)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 02:37:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14728368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatergay/pseuds/theatergay
Summary: Jimmy spends dinner telling Johnny about the weird laws of Cleveland and New York City and anywhere else he can think of. Johnny seems to follow along with most of them, and laughs at the particularly odd ones, and for a while, things feel normal. Like they never fought a war in the Pacific and they're not fighting a war inside themselves now.-Or: Jimmy gets more than he bargained for from his nightly routine of walking Johnny home after rehearsal. He can't say he minds.





	Don't Stop To Think This Through

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing graphic, but Bandstand theme related warnings stand. Title from "Girls Like You" by Denny.

Jimmy isn't entirely sure when taking Johnny home changed from an offer to a nightly routine. He's not too sure when he ended up with an apartment key, either, but he slots it into the lock and turns, letting Johnny step inside first. He follows and lets the door close behind them.

Johnny heads directly into the kitchen and rummages through cabinets in search of food. Jimmy can't miss the way he checks a few of them two or three times, but he also knows that he's done the same thing at his own home. He wonders if it's because Johnny simply can't make up his mind or because he forgot he already looked. He finally settles on macaroni salad leftovers from the fridge that Jimmy watched him make a few nights before. He grabs a fork off the dish rack and turns, nearly slamming into Jimmy.

“Oh! You're still here,” he says, sounding a little surprised.

“I am,” Jimmy says. “I don't have to be.” Johnny frowns slightly. “I can leave if you'd rather be alone,” he explains. Johnny shakes his head.

“No, no! Stick around, I wouldn't mind not eating alone. Are you hungry? I don't know how to make much food, but – here, hold on, I can get you a plate for some of this if you want.”

“Take a breath,” Jimmy says with a kind smile. “That’d be nice, thanks, Johnny.”

“Yeah, ‘f course!” He sets the dish down and grabs the only two plates off his dish rack, scooping macaroni onto both and taking another fork for Jimmy. He hands Jimmy’s plate to him and walks over to the table. Jimmy doesn't miss that he needs to grip the edge of the table till his knuckles turn white just to lower himself down into his chair.

“Did you take your pills after rehearsal today?” Jimmy asks out of curiosity as he sits across from Johnny. Johnny shakes his head and takes a bite of his macaroni.

“Nuh-uh,” he says through a mouthful. He swallows quickly. “Should, though, my back is killing me.”

“Why didn't you?”

“They make me so hazy, you know?” Jimmy remains silent and opts to take a bite instead, unsure of whether or not Johnny actually wants an answer. “Anyways,” he continues. “Last time I took them right after practice I forgot how to get home. So now I wait until I’m home and then I take them.”

“You should take them now,” Jimmy instructs. He's gentle but firm, as he is in most things. Johnny fishes the bottle out of his pocket and drops it on the table, pills rattling inside.

“I will,” Johnny agrees, “after dinner. Tell me something.”

“About what?”

“Anything,” he says as Jimmy takes a bite. “Your law classes?”

Jimmy does, spending the rest of dinner telling him about the weird laws of Cleveland and New York City and anywhere else he can think of. Johnny seems to follow along with most of them, and laughs at the particularly odd ones, and for a while, things feel normal. Like they never fought a war in the Pacific and they're not fighting a war inside themselves now.

Johnny finishes his dinner and takes his painkillers.

Jimmy keeps sharing stories even though he can see Johnny’s focus slipping. He doesn't mind, knows it's just Johnny and his medications, ( _“they make me so hazy, you know?”_ ), and he cherishes when he still gets a small laugh out of him.

“Can we sit in the living room?” Johnny interrupts. Jimmy shrugs.

“Sure, Johnny,” he agrees. “It's your house.” He's finished eating and clears their plates before he settles down in the living room. Johnny has already gotten comfortable on the couch, or as comfortable as he can be. Jimmy remembers him talking about how cushions hurt more than wood now, how there's not enough support for his back after the three operations ( _“you know?”_ ). Jimmy sits next to him and is thankful that Johnny doesn't see him flush red when Johnny leans into him slightly. 

“Whatever Nick and Wayne have, they need to be careful,” Johnny says out of the blue after a good ten minutes of comfortably shared silence.

“Careful about what?” Jimmy responds, knowing exactly what Johnny is talking about.

“Whatever they have going on, you know? Wayne told me they're living together now.”

“Whatever they have together,” Jimmy says, choosing his words carefully, “I'm sure they're being smart about it.” Jimmy is too used to analyzing every interaction between himself and other guysnot to have picked up on the way that Nick and Wayne oddly get along with each other. He's seen the way they behave together; the way Nick avoids snapping at Wayne and the way Wayne lets Nick touch his things as long as he wipes them off after, and he's not surprised that Johnny’s noticed too. Even if he is a little slow ( _“‘cause after that shell hit my jeep it flipped three times, you know, three times, and I needed three operations on my back–”_ ), he's not stupid.

“I don't mind, you know, if they're gay. I get it. But they just can't themselves get caught.”

And if Jimmy got taken off guard by the abrupt “whatever Nick and Wayne have” talk, nothing could have prepared him for Johnny’s casual “I get it.”

He swallows heavily.

“Okay, Johnny,” he says. _I get it, too_ , he thinks. “I’m sure they're being careful, yeah?” Johnny hums and relaxes into the couch, or as much as he can with his bad back. He's still holding himself upright, but he doesn't seem so tense anymore. His fingers are tapping out a beat against his thigh the way he does. Jimmy wants to take his hand and interlock their fingers and not let go.

They fall into a comfortable silence again. Johnny takes his hat off and drums his fingers on the top and Jimmy watches. Johnny makes soft sounds to accompany his hat-drumming, and Jimmy can't help but smiling every time he does. He's lucky that Johnny is so intently focused on his playing because he's sure his face is an unflattering shade of red. Johnny comes to an end of whatever song or beat he was playing out and flips his hat in his hands a few times.

“Sorry,” he says without looking up. “Got distracted. I do that sometimes, you know, ‘cause after my jeep–”

“Johnny?” He looks up at Jimmy, and all of a sudden Jimmy’s sure that no matter how hard he tries he can't ignore Johnny anymore. Johnny hums, waiting for Jimmy to continue, and even though Jimmy can't possibly make himself continue to ignore Johnny, he's not sure if he can bring himself to ask what he wants. But Johnny, he thinks, there's no words to describe Johnny, and to hell with it. He survived a ship exploding and Johnny survived a jeep flipping ( _“three times, you know, three times, and then three operations on my back–”_ ) and if they're both here, now, then Jimmy is going to make the most of it.

“I want to kiss you.”

“Okay.”

“Does that mean–”

Jimmy doesn't get a chance to finish his question because Johnny's lips are on his, a little chapped but still soft, moving against Jimmy’s slowly. Jimmy stays gentle, bringing a hand up to lay on Johnny's cheek and letting Johnny deepen it between the two of them. They're both a little rusty, but he's kissing _Johnny_ , and Jimmy can't help but think that all he wants to do for the rest of his life is kiss the boy in front of him.

Just as suddenly as it happened, Johnny is pulling away. Jimmy lets his eyes flutter open and a smile spreads across his face. Johnny's cheeks are flushed and his lips are parted slightly but his eyes sparkle with a smile in a way that Jimmy doesn't think he's ever seen before. It's a beautiful change from the normal confusion and anxiety that he sees in Johnny's eyes. He wants to keep that warm sparkle there forever. Johnny starts laughing.

“You kissed me,” he says, matter of fact. “You kissed me!” Jimmy feels himself start to laugh, too.

“I did kiss you, didn't I?” Johnny looks down and blushes.

“I was trying to tell you, you know, earlier, and I didn't know if you could tell but I don't know a lot of things anymore, but–”

“I know, Johnny. I could tell.” Johnny laughs again and shifts his hat, a long standing nervous tick of his.

“Thank you,” Johnny blurts. “For doing that. It was nice, you know, felt nice.”

“I know,” Jimmy tells him again. The two fall into silence, but it's not awkward or uncomfortable. Johnny lets himself lean into Jimmy's shoulder. He's thinking about something, Jimmy can tell; he's able to recognize when Johnny’s focus is intense enough to forget about other people in the room. He takes off his hat and starts twirling it between his hands again.

“Do we have rehearsal tomorrow?”

“We don't,” Jimmy tells him. “Was that what you were trying to remember?” Johnny nods.

“Do you want to stay over? I – wait, that's what people say when they want to have sex, isn't it? I forget that bit a lot, I don't get it, but once I invited Julia up once she took me home, and she told me, you know, about how she and Donny are together now, but I didn't mean it like I wanted to have sex with her, you know?”

“I know what you mean, Johnny,” Jimmy says. “I would like to stay over, that would be nice.”

“Okay,” Johnny says. “Can we kiss again?”

“Sure,” Jimmy agrees with a grin.

So they do.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow! My first venture into writing for Bandstand!! Cool! I love (and very heavily relate with) Johnny Simpson and he's a darling. Jimmy is outstandingly excellent and I love him too. I also love this whole musical but am struggling a teeny bit with characterization since the best I have (as of right now) is the preview boot. I might mess around with other relationships or writing more for Johnny/Jimmy, we'll see. As always, kudos/comments/jazzy reactions are appreciated!


End file.
